


Summer of '83 // Starker

by spiderboyunderoos69



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Ben's alive, Consensual Underage Sex, F/M, First Kiss, Fluffy, I'm gonna cry while writing this, Inspired by Call Me By Your Name, M/M, Pepperony - Freeform, Peter is 17, Sad Ending, Tony is 30 smth??, starker au, you'll know if you've read or seen call me by your name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23682529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderboyunderoos69/pseuds/spiderboyunderoos69
Summary: It's the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Peter Parker is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Tony, a handsome doctoral student who's working as an intern for Peter's uncle. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Peter and Tony discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Relationships: Ben Parker/May Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Kudos: 10





	1. Billowy Blue Button Up

**Author's Note:**

> I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS, READ THE NOVEL BY ANDRE ACIMAN IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD :))) all of the translations will be a the end. (I'm sorry if i mess anything up, I know a lot of French but like no Italian. )

Peter stood in just his bathing suit, in the process of moving his clothes from his room to the adjacent room- a cramped storage room somehow refurbished into a single bedroom. The two rooms are separated by a ruined wooden door, with cracks all over it and share a common bathroom.

Peter's best friend, Mj, laid comfortably in his bed. He walks to the window, looking down.

A car pulls up below, blowing up clouds of dust, parking by the entrance. A tall man with a wide smile steps out of the car, a billowy blue shirt on with a wide open collar, sunglasses hiding his excited eyes. 

"L'usurpateur." Peter says to Mj. Mj jumps up out of his bed to come stand next to him, looking out of his window as well. 

Happy, the Parker's gardener and handyman, appears below the two along with the Parker's, who introduce themselves to the new man. 

"Welcome Tony!" Ben Parker says, a wide smile on his face. "Oh, my, you are bigger than your picture!" Tony laughs. 

"Dove è Peter?" May says to her husband. 

"Il faut que je descende." Peter says to MJ. Peter walks down the stairs of the Villa, seeing Tony being walked into his uncle's study. Tony's suitcase and backpack lie on the floor nearby. May sees him and gestures to them, adding a "Aiuta Tony a portare le sue cose in camera tua."

Peter walks into his uncle's studio. Tony is sitting on the sofa, bringing his lips to his glass of water. Even if exhausted by the heat, Tony still remains elegant and somewhat iconic. Ben introduces the two, a wide smile on his wrinkled face. 

"Peter, Tony. Tony, Peter." Tony gets up and puts down his drink, extending a hand to the younger boy. He takes it. 

"Hello." Peter says. 

"Hi." Tony responds. Ben smiles at the two, turning his attention to Tony. 

"Make yourself at home! Our house is your house." Ben says to him.

Tony and Peter head up the stairs together; Peter grabs the heavy suitcase while Tony goes for his backpack. 

"My room is now your room. I'll be next door." Peter says. They meet Mj coming down. 

"Ciao." Mj says, kissing both of Tony's cheeks. "Oh, uh, hello." Tony says, looking back at her curious as she walks away. 

They enter Tony's bedroom, Tony immediately dropping his backpack and crashing on the bed. Peter lays his suitcase next to the bed. 

"We're sharing a bathroom, it's my only way out." Peter says, but Tony's not listening, already asleep. Peter walks out, closing the door that separates the two rooms.

The sun is setting outside as Peter sits at the desk in his small 'new' room. He's doing what he loves best, transcribing music. Next to his lamp his Sony Walkman is playing music. The loud ring of the bell snaps him out of his enclosed and calm state. 

He walks into the bathroom, messing with his curls a bit, and walks into Tony's room. Tony slept in the dim light of sunset. 

"We're being called for dinner." Peter says, fidgeting with his clothes a bit. No answer. Peter walks over to the bookshelf, takes a book from it, and drops it on the floor. The sharp clatter wakes Tony up abruptly, the older man taking a deep breath in, slightly opening his eyes. Peter felt a bit embarrassed and picked up the book off the floor. 

"We're being called to dinner." Peter repeats. Tony looks up at him from his pillow. 

"I'll have to pass." Tony mumbled, sounding beat. "Can you make an excuse for me to your aunt?" Peter nods, backing out to the door. Tony looks around for a moment. 

"So, this is usually your room?" Tony continues. Peter nods again, getting ready to shut the door. "Thanks, buddy. Later." Tony finishes. Tony turns over and goes back to sleep. Peter closes the door leaving the room in almost complete darkness. 


	2. Crema

The next morning Tony walks down the stairs. Not knowing where to go, he listens for the Parker's voices until he sees, through a corridor, the kitchen.

Just beyond it, outside in the garden, he can see the family having breakfast.

Tony comes out and sits down next to Peter, watching as the boy expertly cracks his soft-boiled egg shell. Tony attempts to do the same, but only a tiny bit of the shell is pierced, so he pretends to busy himself with his coffee and pushes the egg in its cup away.

"Would you like juice, amico?" Happy asks. Tony looks up at him and nods, adding a "please". 

"Lasci fare a me, Signore." Happy says. Tony sits back as Happy slices off the top of his egg with ease and returns to his kitchen. 

"Did you recover from your trip, caro?" May asks Tony. Tony smiles at her. "Big time." 

Peter, who has been trying not to stare at Tony, spreads honey on his piece of bread. 

"I can show you around." Peter says, unnaturally loud. Tony glances at him. "Good," Tony calls back, "Are we far from town? I need to open a bank account." Both Ben and May look at him, interest apparent on their faces. 

"None of our residents have ever had a local bank account." Ben says, smiling. 

Peter turns in his seat to get a better view of Tony. 

"Should I take him to Montodine?" Peter asks, still looking at Tony. 

"I think they're closed for summer vacation, try Crema." Ben responds.

"Is that your orchard?" Tony asks. Ben smiles at him again. "Pesca, ciliege, albicocche." Ben says. "Pomegranate." May finishes. 

Happy returns with a pitcher of apricot juice on a tray, filling up Tony's glass. Tony tastes it, then immediately downs it all. 

Peter realizes he's staring at Tony, his head tipped back with his throat swallowing the juice, and notices the Star of David on a necklace around his neck. He lowers his eyes.

"Have another egg." May says, a smile still on her face. Tony chuckled and shook his head.

"No, No, I know myself. If I have three, I’ll have a fourth, and more." 

Peter couldn't think of anyone Tony's age that has said I know myself. It was kind of intimidating. 

"Should we take Happy's bikes?" Peter asked. 

Tony and Peter were riding bikes, Peter in the lead, on the way to the town of Crema and it's bank. They go along the country road towards the town, the day already hot. 

They make it to Crema Town Square, sitting at a little cafe with iron chairs and tables, drinking coffee. Tony looks at the bank application forms, then folds them up and puts them in his knapsack. He looks around the almost empty square. 

"What does one do around here?" Tony asked Peter. 

"Nothing. Wait for the summer to end."

"What do you do in the winter, then? Don’t tell me: wait for summer, right?" Tony said, humor apparent in his voice. 

"We only come here for Christmas and other vacations." 

"Christmas?" Tony asked. 

"And Easter too. We are Jewish, English, American, Italian, French; somewhat atypical. Besides my family, you're probably the only other Jew who has set foot in this town." Peter responds. 

"I'm from a small town in New England, I know what it's like to be the odd Jew out," Tony sighs, "And what else do you do here in the summer, besides this?" 

Peter smiles and says nothing. Tony laughs. 

"What do you do?" Tony continues. Peter shrugs. 

"Transcribe music. Read books. Swim at the river. Go out at night." 

Tony takes this in, his eyes hidden by dark sunglasses as he gathers up his things, cutting their conversation off. They silently reclaim their bikes. As Peter gets on his bike, he loses his balance for a moment and Tony puts his arm on Peter's shoulder, steadying him. Tony then speeds off, leaving Peter with a "Later." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amico (Friend)
> 
> Lasci fare a me, Signore. (Let me, sir)
> 
> caro (dear)
> 
> Pesca, ciliege, albicocche. (peaches, cherries, apricots.)


	3. cock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is the pre-cok scene and all i hear is "Cock" when I watch it. it's stressful.

Ben Parker, or Professor Parker, is attempting to devise a new filing system for his correspondence; there are packs of letters lying about and open boxes with more letters. Tony is helping him and Peter is with them. May comes into the room carrying a little tray with a pitcher of more apricot juice which she pours out into glasses. Tony finishes his in one gulp. He smacks his lips and smiles at her. May looks at him amused. Peter looks at his uncle, already knowing what he's about to say. 

"The word apricot comes from the Arabic -" Ben starts "It’s like the words “algebra”, “alchemy”, and “alcohol”. It derives from an Arabic noun combined with the Arabic article ‘al-’ before it. The origin of our Italian ‘albicocca’ was ‘al-barquq’," He pauses to draw a breath but then continues, "It’s amazing that today in Israel and many Arab countries the fruit is referred to by a totally different name: ‘mishmish’." Tony had been listening very carefully. 

"I beg to differ." Tony says. "Ah?" "The word is not actually an Arabic word." Tony responds. 

"How so?" Ben asks. Peter and May listen carefully. 

"It’s a long story, so bear with me, Pro. Many Latin words are derived from the Greek. In the case of ‘apricot’, however, it’s the other way around," He throws a quick amused look at Peter,"Here the Greek takes over from Latin. The Latin word was praecoquum, from pre-coquere, precook, to ripen early, as in precocious, meaning premature. The Byzantines - to go on - borrowed praecox, and it became prekokkia or berikokki, which is finally how the Arabs must have inherited it as al-barquq." 

There's a moment of silence as Peter and May look at Ben. 

"Courtesy Philology 101." Tony Continues. 

"Passes with flying colors." Ben says, bemused. May starts laughing, Peter looking at Tony. "He does this every year." Peter's soft voice says. Tony smiles, shaking his head. 

Later in the day Peter and Tony walk down the town street, Tony stepping into a small bar. Some men inside were sitting at two or three tables with playing cards, waiters were bringing coffee and other drinks to the customers; the place was lively. Some men look up and nod at Tony. Peter assumed they knew him. A game is starting at one of the tables and one of the men asks Tony to join. He sits down to play. 

"How do you know about this place?" Peter asks. Tony winks at the boy, as Peter pulls up a chair and sits, spectating.

The cards are dealt. Tony, accepted at once, treats his fellow players as equals. Despite being a 'rich' American, ‘intellectual’, a guest at the villa of one of the area’s richest men, he has the ‘common touch’.

That afternoon a few of Peter's friends play a volleyball game in a makeshift court set up on the lawn by the main entrance of the villa. Tony is playing with Gayle, MJ's slightly older sister, and another boy. 

Peter sat by MJ and Ned on the side. All eyes were on Tony, the glamorous American who was unexpectedly dropped into their midst. Ned and MJ start asking questions about him. 

"Sicuramente è meglio di quello dell’anno scorso, ti ricordi?" MJ asked. Peter and MJ laugh. 

"Molto meglio. Guarda che fico!" Ned says.

Peter sighed, now bored and put off. He stood up and walked to a nearby table under the lime trees. On it was fresh fruit and a bottle of cold water. Peter takes the bottle, going back to his friends and offering it to them. Tony steals the bottle and drinks it, then hands it back to Peter, without a word said. Tony puts his free arm around Peter, gently squeezing his thumb and forefingers into Peter's shoulder in a hug-massage. Peter is taken by surprise and spellbound for an instant, yielding into Tony's hand, even leaning into it -- then he wrenches himself away from Tony's grab. 

Tony apologizes, taken aback. "I didn't mean to hurt you." 

"I'm not hurt." Peter blurts out, not wanting to discourage Tony. He puts on a face of someone trying, but failing, to smother a grimace of pain. Tony goes along with the boy's charade, massaging his shoulder.

"Here, let me make it better, relax." Tony says. 

"But I _am_ relaxing."

"You're as stiff as a board. You're made of knots." Tony looks at MJ, "Come here, feel this." He says to her. MJ puts her hands on Peter's back. Tony presses her flattened palm against it.

"Here. Feel it? He should relax more." Tony finishes. 

"You should relax more." MJ says. 

Peter tries to relax until the others lose interest and continue the game. Peter's view of the players and of the ball in the air over their heads is often obscured by Tony's muscular back, moving in closer from the side. Sometimes they collide, trip, fall into a heap. Ned and MJ shout rudely in Italian. Peter goes back to the table under the lime trees and sits in the shade, far from the others. He started subconsciously rubbing the spot Tony has massaged at the base of his neck with his free hand. May and Happy started setting up for dinner. 

Dinner arrived and guests were gathering at the table as church bells rang in the distance. Ben makes a funny face, entertaining the younger kids at the table. 

"Ah, frizzante!" Ben says.

"Sono le otto passate! Noi ci mettiamo a tavola." May says to all of them. 

"Non vi sembra ineducato come dice “Later...”?" Peter said, imitating Tony. "arrogante? Mi sembra che facciamo di tutto per farlo stare a suo agio da noi." Peter finishes, his words harsh, but voice smooth. 

"I don't think he's arrogant," Ben answers, "I think Tony's shy." Peter considers the possibility, but continues speaking. 

"You watch, this is how he'll say goodbye when the time comes. With his gruff, 'Later!'" 

"Meanwhile, we'll have to put up with him for six long weeks. Won't we?" May chimes in.

"I'm telling you," Ben continues, "He's just shy. You'll grow to like him." Peter huffs. 

"Yeah, but what if I grow to hate him?" 

"Mio piccino!" May says to him, shaking her head. "Può togliere i piatti di Mr. Tony?" May asks Happy. Happy did this instantly. Peter watches Tony's silverware, his place mat, glass, napkin, disappear as if it never existed. He grows thoughtful at the sudden violence of Happy's action - may even involuntarily put his own hand out to stop him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sicuramente è meglio di quello dell’anno scorso, ti ricordi? (He’s certainly a big improvement  
> from last year, do you remember?)
> 
> Molto meglio. Guarda che fico! (Much better! Look how cool he is!)
> 
> Ah, frizzante! (Sparkling wine!)
> 
> Sono le otto passate! Noi ci mettiamo a tavola (It's 8 o'clock! We'll/let's sit down)
> 
> Non vi sembra ineducato come dice “Later...”? arrogante? Mi sembra che facciamo di tutto per farlo stare a suo agio da noi. (Don’t you think it’s rude when he says “Later...”? Arrogant? After all, it’s just to show him a good time here.)
> 
> Mio piccino! (My little one!)
> 
> Può togliere i piatti di Mr. Tony? (Can you remove Mr. Tony's place setting away?)(this is a bit wrong, but like i said, my Italian is rusty as hell)


	4. Ne reste pas là comme une araignée sur le mur, mon chéri!

Tony arrives on his bike from town, wearing a blue bathing suit and the billowy blue button up he arrived in. 

Peter laid in his bed, only boxers on, touching himself with his right hand in his boxers. He hears footsteps and quickly pulls his hand out of his boxer shorts as Tony enters the room, shirtless. Tony raised his eyebrow as Peter's face became red. 

"Why aren't you with the others at the river?" Tony asked, his eyes skimming over Peter's body. Peter tried to catch his breath, but he found himself speechless. 

"I'm- uh, I... I have... an allergy." Peter barely lets out. Tony sniffs and hums in response.

"Me too. Maybe it's the same one." Tony says to him. Peter shrugs, playing with his finger nails, avoiding eye contact. 

"Wanna go for a swim? Just the two of us?" Tony asks. "Later, maybe." Peter says, still out of breath. 

"Lets go now." Tony says extending his hand to Peter. Peter grabs his hand and turns on his side facing the wall, away from the older man, to prevent him from seeing his erection- but in his movement is also a slight tugging which could have pulled Tony down on the bed. 

"Must we?" Peter asked, completely still. Tony straightens up, pauses again to look down, and still grasping Peters hand, succeeds in pulling him upright. 

"I'm going to change." Tony says, leaving Peter's room. Peter sighs, knowing his boxers are wet and strips them off, going into the bathroom while grabbing a pair of swim trunks. 

At the bottom of a large stone staircase that leads from the patio outside the villa to the lower outdoor terrace, in the middle of a field, sits an old stone drinking trough for livestock, or an abbeveratoio, now used as a sort of swimming pool to freshen up on hot summer days. Tony swam in the old stone pool while Peter wrote music with his headphones on. Something was going on between the two, Tony could sense the intimacy. May was close by, with a basket of freshly picked fruit. 

"Peter! What are you doing?" Tony asks, to get the boys attention. 

"Reading my music." Peter replies. Tony comes closer.

"No you're not." Peter bites his lip to stop himself from smiling. 

"Thinking, then."

"About?" 

"Private." 

May listens in, amused by the conversation. 

"So you won't tell me?" Tony asks him. Peter looked up at him, a smug look on his face.

"So I won't tell you."

"So he won’t tell me." Tony says to May. "In that case, I'll go hang out with your aunt." Tony gets out from the pool and reaches May in the orchard, stretching into the branches for the ripe fruit as Peter watches. Peter goes over to them and offers to hold the basket, which is filled with apricots.

A little later in the day, Peter sat at a table in the shade of the house, practicing playing his guitar, Tony lying down on a towel near him, reading a book titled "Heraclithus". 

On the nearby patio the Parker's and some friends are sitting around a table playing a card game. There are always people coming and going at the Parkers'- friends, relatives, acquaintances of Peter, like MJ. Tony doesn't always know who they are, but they give a sense of ever-moving inhabitants to the man. Tony lowers his book and stares at Peter, who is focused on the fingerboard of his guitar. Peter looks at Tony, trying to see if he likes what Peter is playing, but Tony looks back without expression, almost coldly. Peter breaks off for a moment. 

"Just play it again." Tony says, lifting his hands behind his head. 

"I thought you didn't like it? Hated it.." Peter mumbled out the last bit, but Tony caught it. 

"Hated it?" Tony sighed and closed his eyes. "Just play it, will you?" Tony grumbled out. 

"The same one?" Peter asked.

"The same one." 

Peter got up, laying his guitar down, walking to the big door of the house. "Follow me." 

Tony listens, following Peter until he walked inside, sitting in front of the piano. Tony leaned on the door frame looking in as Peter played it. Tony noticed it sounded completely different from when Peter played it on the guitar. 

"You changed it." Tony crossed his arms. "What did you do to it? Is it Bach?" Peter shrugged. 

"I just played it the way Liszt would have played it if he’d jimmied around with it." Tony grumbled.

"Just play it again, please." 

Peter does what he's asked to do, but Tony speaks up. 

"I can't believe you changed it again." 

"Not by much. That’s how Busoni would've played it if he’d altered Liszt’s version." Peter explained. 

"Can't you play the Bach the way Bach wrote it?" 

"Bach never wrote it for guitar." Tony sighed, letting Peter finish. "In fact, we’re not even sure it’s Bach at all." Tony threw his hands up in surrender, leaving the room. 

"Forget I asked." Peter starts to play the piece in its original form, Tony coming into the door frame again. 

"It’s young Bach," Peter says softly after playing the piece, "He dedicated it to his brother."

Peter sat writing in his diary, the wind moving with the curtains. He dragged the pen expertly across the paper, furrowing his eyebrows as he wrote.

'I was too harsh when I told him I thought he hated Bach. What I wanted to say was I thought he hated me.' Peter sighed and closed his diary, tossing it somewhere on his bed, getting up to pee in the shared bathroom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for some reason, while I wrote all of this I literally imagined this as Peter and Tony (bc I've read the book 100x I always read it as Elio and Oliver) I think I'm actually getting in the swing of it now.


	5. Jealousy

Peter sat at his usual table under the lime trees, transcribing music. Ben and Tony were discussing Tony's manuscript on 'Heraclithus'.

"Go on, I'm okay with criticism." Tony says. 

"You are? Good." Ben answers. 

Happy approaches Peter, carrying a large fish wrapped up in a t-shirt, which he uncovers for Peter. 

"Sei stato al fiume?" Peter asks, smiling at the fish, puckering his lips together. Happy smiles at him, "Si." Happy takes the fish towards the kitchen, and the conversation between Tony and Ben continues. A peaceful afternoon.

Later in the day, Peter sits nearby the pool with his head back on the cushion of his chair, his eyes closed. Tony, far away, is sitting on the edge of the trough, his feet in the water, reading the pages from the manuscript he showed Ben. He looks towards Peter. 

"Are you sleeping?" Tony asks loudly, waving a sheet of his manuscript at him. Peter doesn't open his eyes.

"I was." He says to himself. Tony gestures him to come closer. Peter does, slowly. He notices Tony was wearing a red bathing suit. 

"Just listen to this drivel: 'For the early Greeks, Heidegger contends, this underlying hiddenness is constitutive of the way beings are, not only in relation to themselves but also to other entities generally. In other words, they do not construe hiddenness merely or primarily in terms of entities' relation to human beings.'" Tony looks at Peter, setting his paper down for a moment. "Does this make any sense to you? Not to me. Nor to your uncle." Peter felt a bit happy that Tony had asked his opinion on the manuscript. Peter thought for a moment. 

"Maybe it did when you wrote it." He finally said. 

"That's the kindest thing anyone's said to me in months." Tony said earnestly. Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Kind?" 

"Yes," Tony says, "Kind." Peter looks at Tony, eyes wondering from his torso to his red bathing suit, lying on the edge of the trough. Tony lets himself roll and fall into the water, catching Peter by surprise. 

Peter sat with his friends at a restaurant bar with an open air dancing floor, everyone dancing to a slow ballad. Almost everyone.

Tony was kissing a girl around his age named Pepper, Peter watching from the table. She moves her thighs in between his. Their moves are not the  
moves of people who stop at heavy petting.

"Ma ci sta provando?" One of his friends asks. 

"Ha già cuccato?" Ned chimes in, laughing a bit. Peter sat without expression on his face. 

"Che ne so." Peter says coldly. 

"Quanto vorrei essere nei suoi panni." Ned says. 

"Chi non vorrebbe essere nei panni di lei, piuttosto." Someone says to MJ. 

Peter watches them dance. Watches how Tony keeps his hands on her hips, swaying her lightly, as she keeps her hands up around his neck. He'd give anything to be in her shoes. He notices MJ studying his face, so he pretends to like them dancing. 

"Lo vuole a tutti i costi, eh." MJ says to everyone. The music changes to something more upbeat, and Tony changes his way of dancing to a more self-obsessed style. A perfect new-wave style.

They all watch Tony's solo with surprise and amusement, Peter staring at him, mesmerized. That is until MJ pulls him on the dance floor. Tony and Peter exchange glances throughout the dancing. Peter rolls his shoulders around, making his hips shift a bit, trying to get more attention from Tony. 

MJ and Peter giggled as they walked to the lake, not being able to see much because of the dark sky. They begin taking off their clothes as MJ speaks up. 

"Tu n'es pas avec moi parce que tu es fâché contre Pepper?" She asks. Peter doesn't look at her. 

"Pourquoi je serais fâché contre Pepper?" He asks. MJ shrugs. 

"Because of him." Peter shook his head, feigning a puzzled look meant to show that he can’t begin to guess where she’d gotten such a notion. They jumped in the lake, pushing each other and splashing one another with water.

"Turn around. Don’t stare at me." MJ said, drying herself off with her sweater. "Let’s meet tomorrow night. I’ll be here before you." Peter says.

The next morning, Tony shows off his newly acquired talent with a soft-boiled egg, neatly shearing off the shell. He looks a bit hung-over, with circles under his eyes.

"We almost did it, MJ and I." Peter says. Ben raised his eyebrows from behind his paper. "And why didn’t you?" He asks.

"Dunno." Peter responds, playing with his food. 

"Better to have tried and failed." Tony says mockingly. 

"All I had to do was find the courage to reach out and touch, she would have said yes." Peter said, annoyance in his tone. 

"Try again later." Tony said, seemingly uninterested. May walks outside and takes a seat next to her husband. 

"Try what later?" She asks. Ben and Tony laugh.

"I just heard from the people in Sirmione, they say they’ve come up with something." Ben says, changing the subject. " I’m going there today, would you like to go with me?" Ben asks Tony. Tony smiles. 

"I'd like that very much." 

"Can’t I come too?" Peter asks, a bit too eager. 

"On condition that you remain silent." Ben looks at his nephew with his eyebrows raised. Tony chuckled. 

"Silent as in too many opinions on things, or silent as in Security; not telling anybody what fabulous things have been dug up?" Tony teased. 

"Nothing is being dug up." Tony turned to Ben, Interested. "It's what has been brought up out of the water." Ben finishes, and Tony looks in awe. 

Happy wipes the windowsill of the Parkers' car, Peter walking out as Pepper arrives on her bike. 

"Where's Tony?" She asks. 

"We’re going to Lake Garda with Uncle Ben, he wants to show Tony where they’re dredging." Peter says. Pepper looks at the ground, disappointed. "Tell him I came by." She says. 

"He’s inside helping uncle Ben, you were great on the dance floor last night." Pepper shrugs. 

"He dances great."

"And he's great looking, isn't he?" Peter asks her. Pepper laughs. 

"Tu veux jouer les entremetteurs?" She gets off her bike and leaves Peter, going into the house. Peter gets into the back seat of the car and waits. Tony and Pepper come out of the house, standin gclose and laughing about something, Pepper kissing his cheek before she leaves on her bike. Tony gets in the front seat of the car, ignoring Peter. 

"Uncle Ben always sits up front with Happy to navigate." Peter says, leaning forward, only inches away from his face. Tony opens the door, getting into the back seat with Peter, watching as Pepper leaves. 

"She seems to like you a lot," Peter says to Tony, "She's more beautiful than she was last year." Tony doesn't respond, so Peter continues. "I saw her naked on a night swim. She has a great body." Tony turns to Peter, a bit surprised. 

"Are you trying to make me like her?" He asks. Peter notices their thighs touch for a moment. He keeps his eyes on Tony's, coming a bit closer to him. 

"What would be the harm in that?" Peter asks, softly. Tony turns away from him, pulling on his sunglasses, sniffing. "No harm. Except I like to go at it alone, if you don't mind." Tony responds. Peter huffs but looks out the other window. Peter tried to get his face to cool down while they waited for his uncle. 

Ben comes out, speaking to a frustrated Happy. "Guido io oggi, non ti preoccupare. Non fare quella facci Happy! Prenditi il pomeriggio libero." Ben says to him.

"Don’t play at being the good host, just don't." Tony finishes. 

Ben gets in the front seat, turning around to look at the boys as the engine starts. 

"What’s going on, boys? Tony, come sit up front and be my navigator." Ben says, patting the passenger's seat. Tony smiles at Peter and mouths 'see?'.

Ben, Peter, and Tony walk through the magnificent ruins of the roman villa overlooking Lake Garda, the Grotte di Catullo, and a delegation of archaeologists are waiting for them. The senior member rushes up to Ben to greet him, a large smile on his wrinkled face. They all gather in the small beach that is dominated by the ruins, a man showing Ben an arm of the statue, which Ben seemed ecstatic about. He goes in the water and walks through the shallows towards an inflatable boat that is standing by, ready to take them to the platform.

Peter grabs the arm, reaching it out to Tony. 

"Tregua?" Peter asks. Tony gives him a small smile and shakes the hand, accepting the apology. 

Some small boats surround a floating platform. At the center of the platform is a winch. There are scuba divers and other people all around. Ben, Tony, Peter and other men are on the boat, now next to the platform. At the center of the platform below the cable of the winch is a large opening. A steel cable is lowered into the water and steadied by the site workers.

"The ship went down in 1827 on the way to the villa of Count Lechi," Ben Explained, "There are four known sets of statues, after the Praxiteles originals. This fellow should be Number Three. The Emperor Hadrian had a pair, dug up at Tivoli, but one of the more philistine of the Farnese popes melted them down and had them recast as a particularly voluptuous Venus that was traded to Napoleon later on." 

A bronze Boxer slowly comes up through the opening in the platform, secured by the husky divers, and as it does a chainmetal trap inches underneath it to prevent it from falling back into the water if something should go wrong. The statue, missing its left arm but otherwise intact, is of an athlete, a boxer, naked, a kind of fingerless glove and wrist-strap. Like the damaged arm and gloved hand, the statue is encrusted with the lake water deposits of a century. Ben's smile only grew as Tony looked at it with excitement. 

Back on the beach, The bronze has been dried and cleaned. Ben is speaking in Italian with the other men and women who took part in the operation, and who are analyzing the find. Tony gently caresses the statue. 

"Who would like to go for a swim before we head back?" Ben asks the two. 

They swim in a little cove not far from the rig that pulled up the bronze Boxer. It is almost dark, with a cloud streaked sky reflected in the water. The lights on the rig go on, including a big floodlight. The lake is surrounded by snow capped mountains. Peter laughs, splashing water around.

"Tony!" He yells. 

"Peter!" Tony yells back, laughing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sei stato al fiume? (You've been at the river?)
> 
> Si (Yes.) (ok but who doesn't kno that-)
> 
> Ma ci sta provando? (Is he hitting on her?)
> 
> Ha già cuccato? (Are they doing it, then?)
> 
> Che ne so. (I don't care.)
> 
> Quanto vorrei essere nei suoi panni. (I'd love to be in his shoes.)
> 
> Chi non vorrebbe essere nei panni di lei, piuttosto. (Who wouldn't want to be in her shoes, I say.)
> 
> Lo vuole a tutti i costi, eh. (She’s really after him, that’s clear.)
> 
> Tu n'es pas avec moi parce que tu es fâché contre Pepper? (You’re not with me because you’re angry at Pepper?)
> 
> Pourquoi je serais fâché contre Pepper? (Why should I be angry at Pepper?)
> 
> Tu veux jouer les entremetteurs? (What are you trying to do, fix us up?)
> 
> Tregua? (Truce?)  
> Guido io oggi, non ti preoccupare. Non fare quella facci Happy! Prenditi il pomeriggio libero. (I think I will drive myself today. Happy, don’t be upset! Take the afternoon off.)

**Author's Note:**

> L'usurpateur (The usurper)
> 
> Dove è Peter? (Where's Peter?)
> 
> Il faut que je descende. (I'd better go down.)
> 
> Aiuta Tony a portare le sue cose in camera tua. (Help bring Tony's things up to your room.)


End file.
